Buying A Scary House

So, I have said it before, but hubs and I bought our second house after only being married a year. We literally lived in our dreamy little bungalow that we custom renovated to perfection for a YEAR, and then had the bold (insane) idea to buy a second home and put our first on Airbnb. While that whole getup was absolutely nuts, I don't regret it one bit. Plus, I will say that I felt like a bad ass buying our second house before I was even 25.

For reference, our perfect little 1,100 sq. ft. craftsman looked like this:

It was cute. It was tiny and adorable and we loved every square inch of that house. Yet, like crazy people, we decided to buy a cosmetic nightmare and run after a wild dream of an Airbnb business. We put our beloved Bungalow on Airbnb for a few weeks while we toured with my husband's music, and were blown away by how much we loved it, how much people loved our home, and the sweet income that it made. So, we gave it a full-time shot.

We worked for months to get this property ready for renting full time and getting all the permits, registrations, licenses, etc. in line to do it properly. Let's just say, I would honestly rather run a marathon than ever have to do the legislative side of registering an Airbnb ever again. And if you know me at all, you KNOW what that says (aka they say never say never, but I will never run a marathon if I know what's good for me and the world). I'll share more on this later.

So, take another glance at that adorable little bungalow.

Now, check out this scary house we decided to buy in its stead...

Help me, Lord. I can tell you that if we had known how much work we would pour into this house, we may very well have not bought it. BUT, we did it anyway, taking on the challenge for a good deal and to live close to some best friends of ours. I mean how bad could painting over that fire engine red room be...?

Bad. It was bad.

You know what though? Buying a scary house is kind of liberating in its own way. You get to create and recreate from the ground up, designing a fresh, new home and breathing inspiration into an old space. This house was built in 1920 and desperately needed a fresh breath of inspiration, beauty, and elbow grease.

We haven't even owned this home for a year and it already looks like a completely different place, mostly because we literally painted every square inch white (and I mean every, trust me). It is powerful to reinvent a space, to take history and make it come alive again. I will be sharing with you bit by bit how we have renovated and redesigned this house. We will be sharing tips, tricks, and lessons we have learned and encountered along the way.

I will give you my greatest piece of advice when it comes to renovating though:

It is always worth it.

More to come soon, friends!

xoxo,

Annaliese